The Massachusetts baseball team picked up its first series win of the season this weekend, taking two out of three games against St. Bonaventure. Led by strong pitching out of the bullpen and timely offense, the Minutemen (10-26, 3-12 Atlantic 10) reached four straight wins for the first time this season.
The Minutemen were the comeback kids this weekend, managing to pick up victories in two of the three games after trailing in the middle innings.
Game two was highlighted by strong pitching performances by Zack Given and Charlie Devin out of the bullpen. After a three run fourth inning for the Minutemen brought the game to a tie, starter Taylor Perrett got the first two outs of the inning, but a single and a walk for the Bonnies (6-33, 4-11 A-10) signaled the end of his day.
Given was called out of the pen by head coach Matt Reynolds with runners on first and second with two outs. Although it was early in the game, after a momentum grabbing inning from the offense, UMass needed to put a zero on the board for St. Bonaventure in the fourth.
A curveball in the dirt from Given was good enough to strike out Jackson DeJohn, and it was onto the fifth.
Given was strong for the rest of his outing and was relieved by Devin in the seventh. Devin pitched a strong 2.2 innings and completed game two for the Minutemen.
Strong pitching performances didn’t count for nothing for UMass, as it got the offense to back it up. Each batter had at least one hit in game two except for Steve Luttazi, highlighting the depth of the offense when it is firing on all cylinders.
“I think our team is very confident that we can put runs on the board,” Reynolds said. “Most recently, we’ve had a lot of resolve offensively, and a lot of confidence that we’re not going to be shut down. Eventually we’ll get to somebody, and we’ll put some runs on the board.”
Game one showcased the young talent on the team, as freshmen Justin Blumenthal, Michael Toth and Sam Belliveau led the Minutemen to their third straight victory.
Blumenthal and Toth shined at the plate, going a combined 5-10 with three runs scored, while Toth had two RBIs. Blumenthal himself was a combined 8-13 this weekend, driving in three runs while scoring four himself.
“[Blumenthal’s] been hot as a pistol and making every play,” Reynolds said. “[Toth] has been great behind the dish and really chipped in offensively, came up with some big hits over the weekend.”
Sam Belliveau threw three scoreless innings out of the bullpen in relief of Jack Pawlowski, picking up his first career win as a Minuteman in the process. His effort on the mound bridged the gap between the starter and the late innings, giving the offense the opportunity to take the lead in the middle innings. Belliveau is now 1-1 on the season.
Renn Lints was solid out of the pen for two innings but struggled in the ninth, allowing two runs to cross the plate making the score 7-5. Luckily for the Minutemen, another freshman – Mikey Jensen – was ready to go out of the bullpen. Jensen slammed the door shut on the Bonnies getting the final out of the game.
Despite dropping the final game of the series, the Minutemen have won four of their last five games, the best five game stretch of the season.
UMass will look to continue its winning ways this week when they take on Quinnipiac on Wednesday, May 3. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
Matt Skillings can be reached at [email protected] and followed on twitter @matt_skillings.
